Carpenter&#39;s hatchet



Dec. 18 1923. 11,478,187.

V. M. SWANN CARPENTERS HATCHET Filed Aug. 24. 1922 ag gf a Meme/1 I Patented Dec. l8, i923.

nears STATE canrnna nns na rennr.

Application filed August 24, 1822. Serial No. 583,948.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, VIVIAN M. SWANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpenters Hatchets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanics tools and has particular reference to hatchets of the general class commonly used by shinglers v or lathers in which the top of the tool is so reduced or cut away as to facilitate the use of the hammer end or poll thereof close to a wall or corner.

Among the principal objects of the invention is to provide a hatchet having improved nail pulling facilities, the features pertaining to the nail pulling being so coir structed as to be well shrouded, rendering it practically impossible for the nail slot or notch to become engaged with the oper- .ators clothing or any other outside condiion that might interfere with the use of thetool or tend to cause an injury to any person, and at the same time to provide maximum strength and durability not only for the pulling of the nails but making for the durability of the tool itself.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved type of carnenters hatchet having nail pulling facilities located along the top edge thereof and so designed that themaximum strength of the handle for nail pulling purposes will be subserved, the strain for this purpose being brought within the plane of the widest dimension of the handle.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a tool of the character stated which is not only neat in appearance but which is particularly well adapted for a well balanced swing in either the driving of nails or the cutting of material with the use of the blade.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like re erence characters desi nate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a hatchet made in accordance with this invention, a portion of the handle being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, one face of the hatchet being'broken away to better disclose the construction. Fi 3 is elevation of the top edge of the hatchet. r

Referring now more specifically to the drawings 1 show my improved hatchet as comprising a head or poll 10, the face 11 of which may be of any suitable form or contour for nail driving or like purposes, a blade 12 of any suitable design and properly sharpened, and intermediate the blade and the head is arranged the handle socket 13 as usual of any suitable construction per e, not differing essentially from the features of other makes of tools. The handle 14 is fitted into the socket 13 and suitably wedged therein as usual at 15.

Instead'of forming a nail pulling claw or notch atthe bottom of the poll or along the bottom edge of the blade -as heretofore, which features are always liable to cause interference with outside conditions as well as likelihood of breakage of the handle when the strain thereon is transverse to the plane of the blade, I form the top edge portion of the hatchet with a peculiarly arranged socket or recess 16, the same being arranged opposite the handle and extending entirely across the same both longitudinally of thehatchet and transversely thereof. In the for mation of this socket there is observed an open slot 17 which widens or flares both laterally and longitudinally toward the handle socket 13, the ends of the slot at 18 and 19, proximate to the poll and the blade respectively, being of acuteangular form for the secure engagement of the nail head or shank, the head of the nail being engageable in the under out adjacent portion of the slot or recess 18 or 19.

It is to be particularly noted that the walls bounding the slot 17 are in eflect continuous ribs 20 extending all the way from the blade to the poll, whereby not only maximum strength in the implement is observed but the ribs constitute shrouding ing a smooth symmetrical and well balanced implement.

The end of the handle is intimated into the socket 123 in the usual way and the wedge or wedges are introduced to secure the same therein. The free open slot 17 does not interfere with the insertion of the wedges,and any projecting portion of either the handle or the Wedges within the cavity 16 may be trimmed ofl' by the use of a chisel or other tool through either of two similarly formed and'arranged side wall slots 21. t

The top portion of the poll is rounded of]? somewhat at 22, among the purposes for which are to'facilitate the grasping of the nail head in the claw 18 and also to give a more powerful fulcrum for the claw 18V when'the tool is swung around said rounded top in the direction of the arrow 1, Fig. 2.

It is wel understood that the initial pullor starting of the nail is the most difficult, requiring the greatest mechanical advantage in the use of ,thehandle as a lever, and this rounded effect of the tool furnishes immediately this advantage. After the nail has been started the continued or final pull thereon may be accomplished by simply shifting the toolrendwise and the nail head along and within the open slot 17, bringing the nail headinto the claw 19, and the pill being completed, swinging the tool around the'point 23 of the blade is a fulcrum as suggested by. the arrow 2. At this time the nail having been started from its set position it will require less force and the fulcrurn end. of the tool accordingly will be longer than as first stated.

I claim:

1. In a hatchet, a nail pulling device arranged along'the top edgethereof and including a claw formed adjacent to the poll, said claw being constituted by anunder cut recess extending downward toward the poll and utilized for starting the nail, the side walls of the claw being continuous spaced ribsmerging into the blade of'the hatchet and forming an auxiliary claw operative around the point of the blade for compfeting the pull of the nail. V

'2. The herein described nail pulling hatchet formed with a recess in its top edge portion opposite and indirect alinenient with the end of the handle and including a claw i adjacenttogthe bladeand having an under cut formation to receive the head of the nail Withinthe shank portion of the blade for the extraction of the nail while swinging the hatchet around the point of the blade as a fulcrum, the side wall portions of the claw being extended beyond the handle and" merged into the poll of the hatchet.

3, A nail pulling hatchet, thetop edge portion ofwhich is formed with an under cut recess opposite the end of the handle,

the side wall portions of which constitute continuousribs merging into the poll and i the blade portions respectively and forming claws at both ends ofthe recess, there being provided a side wall opening formed adjacentto the end of the handle and below the topsot or opening of the recess for the trimming off of the endof the handle at the bottom of the recess. i

' a. A nail pulling hatchet, the'top edge] portion of which is formedwith an under cut recess opposlte the end of the handle,

the side wall portionsof which constitute continuous i ribsmerging into the poll and the blade portions respectively, the top portion of the poll being rounded, in the direction of the plane of the blade to facilitate the application of the nail pulling claw to the head of a'nail formaximum pulling force, hile the strain on the handle is brought along the plane aforesaid.-

5. In a tool-of, the class set forth ,a head J 1 having a 'handle' soclret, said head being formed remote fromthe handle socket with a recessffor receiving the head of a nail to be drawn, said recess being formedonits opposite ends with claws adapted toreceive 1n succession the nail head-jwhile being sh1fted alongthe recess from oneiclaw to the other, substantialyias described,

p In testimony whereofrlafiix my signature;

VIVIAN M. SWANN. 

